A common method of attaching a hawser to a fitting is to embed the hawser in a tapered plug of metal or other castable material and then surround this tapered plug with a member having a complementary tapered surface. The tensile stress in the hawser is uniformly distributed over the surface of the tapered plug, thereby preventing the generation of any localized stresses. In the prior art, the member with the complementary tapered surface surrounds the tapered plug for its full axial length; that is, the member extends to the minimum diameter of the hawser-plug combination, which is the diameter of the hawser.
However, it has been found that such a fitting does not allow the hawser to exert its full tensile strength. For example, a hawser or other tensile member having a rated tensile strength of 50,000 lbs., when fixed in the prior art fitting of this type will be found to break at a tensile load considerably less than 50,000 lbs. It has been found that the normal point of failure of such a hawser is at the minimum diameter of the hawser-plug combination. That is, the hawser will fail at that point where it enters the tapered plug.
Applicants have analyzed the above types of failure and have found that they are caused by the combined stresses within the hawser-plug combination. The present invention is an end fitting which prevents the build-up of these combined stresses within the hawser-plug combination.